Lycoperdon compactum

Lycoperdon compactum is a small, endemic, saprophytic spiny puff ball occurring only in the native forests of New Zealand. The small puffball is about the size of a large marble and it lives on dead and buried wood. The immature sporocarp (fruiting body) is covered with brown to dark brown spines which in time erode off revealing a network pattern on the exposed inner layer. The sporocarp is then ripe and when it is hit by heavy rain drops spores are puffed out through an aperture at the top.